years, until his knees gave out. During that time I would assist with the heavy work, such as scarifying and autumn renovation. During this period the green took on a new life, as did the club, with a new clubhouse being built and membership booming to 160 playing members. We even had thirteen people on the waiting list at one point; how things change!
Mo was succeeded by a group of willing volunteers, and I dropped out at this point due to work commitments. The volunteers carried out all the work under the guidance of the new green ranger. Regrettably, due to personality clashes, much of the knowledge was not passed on and the green, whilst remaining healthy, was not a good playing surface. Following redundancy in 2003, the club chairman asked me what I thought of our green (I guess he thought my view was worth listening to, as I had been to the national finals a couple of times and was part of the Middleton Cup Squad). I asked ‘do you want the truth?’ He said yes, so I told him the truth, ‘it’s crap!’ He responded by asking me if it was something I could look to take on. I went away and worked out a price for doing the work, which the club accepted and, so, became greenkeeper in 2004. Whilst I don’t expect that all will share my view, nevertheless I think the best bowls greenkeepers are those that have bowled at a reasonable level, as they know what to expect from a playing surface. It is a constant trade-off between the health of the green and the surface we want to play on. I had worked with Mo in the past, but
not really taken it all on board but, lucky for me, ol’ Mo was still there to provide advice.
One of my first requests of the club was
to purchase a 24” Lloyd’s Paladin TG. Grooming was a great opportunity to improve green speed. With the exception of really dry periods, I don’t cut without the groomer, set 2mm below cut. The first couple of years went well, and
I recall the departure of two lady members from our club because the green was too quick. They had lost their
competitive advantage, as all the ladies could now reach the jack. In 2005, the club were runners-up in the club of the year award and, the following year, were voted club of the year. The award was not based on the green, but on the success of the club in ‘doing the right things’ - we like to think we are still doing the right things moving forward.
Also in 2006, we were given a view that
our green, and the way it was constructed in 1965, was such that it had run its course. Typical of the period, it was built with a clinker base and, even to this day, only has six inches of soil profile, despite four tonnes of topdressing annually for the last twenty-two years! We had to consider the annual spend to keep the green going against the prospect of a new surface. We even looked at the possibility of introducing an all-weather surface but, I’m pleased to say, the members wanted to continue playing on grass. This meant an in increase in my budget and a chance to look at better machinery. During the period the ‘team’ looked after the green, they had replaced the Turfman with a SISIS Dart and, by now, I had used this for two years. I found the machine
disappointing, as the depth of aeration was limited and had contributed to a pan at three inches. There were several areas of black layer, some of which was due to the club house shadow. To address this, I persuaded the club to engage the services of Ecosol, and we carried out a ‘Drill n Fill’ operation in the autumn of 2008. This improved the drainage considerably. Thankfully, the Dart died, and the cost
of repair was beyond consideration. Enter the Groundsman 345HD. What a shock rang through my fingers when I tried to aerate at five inches! It took me a whole year to get to that depth without the machine kicking and screaming!
Based on my success at Welwyn, I was
approached by Hatfield Bowls Club, in the summer of 2006, to look after their green. Due to other activities at the time - cutting lawns and the odd Mr Fix-it jobs - I was unable to consider the offer. A year later, I asked a local architect to draw-up some plans for an extension on my home. He turned out to be the chairman at Hatfield and asked if I would reconsider taking on their green as they were looking to improve the playing surface. Spookily, just the day before this, I had stopped grass cutting for the local
“It took me a whole year to get to that depth without the machine kicking and screaming!”
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